Irish Donkey Society at the Dublin Horse Show

02 Aug 2017

 

Important farm heritage on display on Sunday of Show

 

Once an important part of every Irish farm, the donkey will again take centre stage on Sunday August 13 at the 2017 Dublin Horse Show. A great display of donkeys, donkey farming equipment, carriages at work and carriages at play will take place in Ring 1 by the Irish Donkey Society from 3.30pm to 4.10pm.

 

Still used for companionship for some horses, donkeys were once a common sight around the country. In the 1880’s there were 250,000 working donkeys on Irish farms, at the end of World War II in 1945 there were 128,000, but today there are less than 7,000 donkeys and mules on the island of Ireland, with less than 5,000 breeding females.

Members of the Irish Donkey Society, will be joined by members of the Donkey Breed Society of Northern Ireland to provide a superbly authentic exhibition of 16 displays of donkeys, on lead rein, being ridden and with various old antique farming equipment and donkey-drawn carriages; showing the versatility of this loveable and sociable animal for generations gone by.

 

The Irish Donkey Society mission is to show what this wonderful animal can do if allowed time for training, just like people do with their ponies and horses – they too don’t do any farm work anymore either but are kept for sport and pleasure purposes.

 

Some of the 16 items on display will include a 1940’s Turnip sowing machine, turf creels, vegetable carts, wartime emergency medical equipment, a Norfolk trap and plenty more. The display is a great chance to get up close to some of Ireland’s farming heritage.